Brain Age Express: Math

Nintendo exclusive

Dr Kawashima brings his popular brain exercise software to Nintendo DSi, with fun, new features and the return of many Brain Training favourites!

Released: 24 December 2008
Platforms: Nintendo DS
Genres: —
Developers: —
Publishers: Nintendo iQue
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Text
Themes: Educational
Age ratings: CLASS_IND L ESRB E
Languages: Chinese (Simplified), English, Japanese

About

Brain Age Express (known in Japan as Chotto Brain Training[a] and in Europe and Australia as A Little Bit of... Dr Kawashima's Brain Training) are three educational puzzle video games developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare download service. They are the third series of games in the Brain Age series, and are repackaged versions of both Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! and Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! games, featuring both old and new puzzles.

There are three editions: Arts & Letters, Math, and Sudoku. The Arts & Letters and Math versions were released on December 24, 2008, in Japan as launch titles for the DSiWare service, and the Sudoku edition on April 22, 2009, in Japan as well. The Math edition is the only version available outside Japan, and was released on April 5, 2009, in North America and June 19, 2009, in the PAL regions, as a launch title for the service. However, the Arts & Letters edition was released on August 10, 2009, in North America and October 23, 2009, in the PAL regions.

Keywords

dsiware

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

They use similar gameplay concepts to Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! and Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! titles; they both require the player to hold the DS on its side with the top screen on left and the touch screen on right (reverse in lefty mode). Like their predecessors, both versions feature modes called "Brain Age Check" and "Training".

In Brain Age Check, where the game uses several training puzzles to test his or her brain age, with the ideal brain age for people 20 or over. Using the DSi's internal clock, both versions allow for only one official Brain Age Check per day. In Training, the player may freely play any game that is available, and is able to compare how well they did with previous days. Each title comes with three new training puzzles, as well as several puzzles taken from the previous Brain Age titles.

Development

The two Brain Age Express titles were announced on October 2, 2008, at the reveal of the Nintendo DSi and its DSiWare service and were released on December 24, 2008. The titles were created to be played anywhere at any time. Nintendo chose the most popular puzzles from Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! and Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day!

to include in the two versions. , Brain Age Express: Math was released at the DSiWare launch while the Sudoku edition is available in Japan on April 22, 2009. This edition along the Literature edition was later released.

Reception

In their impressions of the Japanese release of the two original titles in the Brain Age Express series, IGN described the two titles as perfect showpieces for the DSiWare service, due to the eliminating cartridge swapping. Of what they've played, Nintendo has given it the polish that titles in a series that's sold more than ten million copies should, also complimenting them for feeling like full games despite the limited content. IGN editor Craig Harris gave the Math edition a 7.9 out of 10, praising it for feeling like almost as full of a game as the retail releases, comparing its $8.00 price tag to the retail games' $19.99 price tag. However, they found fault in the usage of many puzzles from the retail titles.